Card holding device

Abstract

A card holding device comprising a hinge member having grasping members rotatably mounted along the length of the hinge member. Each of the grasping members has a hinge mounting portion and a pair of spaced, opposed gripping arms separated by a distance less than the thickness of an appropriate card. The gripping arms are sufficiently flexible to allow the edge of a card to be inserted between the arms whereupon the arms exert a clamping force to grasp and hold the card firmly in place.

I claim: 
     
       1. A card holding device comprising a hinge member having a plurality of grasping members rotatably mounted along the length of the hinge member, each of said grasping members having a hinge mounting portion and a card receiving portion comprising a clip having a pair of spaced, opposed gripping arms separated by a distance less than the thickness of an appropriate card, said gripping arms being sufficiently flexible to allow the edge of a card to be inserted betweeen the arms whereupon the arms exert a clamping force to grasp and hold the card firmly in place. 
     
     
       2. A card holding device as claimed in claim 1 in which said grasping members are formed with a depending portion connecting the hinge-mounting portion and the card receiving portion, said depending portions being of different lengths on different grasping members, and said grasping members being arranged along the hinge member in a step-like pattern such that the depending portion of the next grasping member is shorter than the previous grasping member as one moves down the hinge from one end to the other, this arrangement placing each pair of spaced, opposed gripping arms at different levels to hold individual cards in different planes. 
     
     
       3. A card holding device as claimed in claim 2 in which the step-like pattern of grasping members is repeated twice along the length of the hinge member such that each card receiving portion of a first grasping member has a corresponding card receiving portion spaced further along the length of the hinge and attached to a second grasping member thereby allowing the first and second grasping members to grasp a card at two points along the same length of the card. 
     
     
       4. A credit card holder as claimed in claim 1 including a tongue member attached to said hinge member for insertion into a wallet pocket in order to retain the present device in a wallet. 
     
     
       5. A card holding device as claimed in claim 1 in which said gripping arms are formed with ridges to engage a suitably-formed groove in a card in order to securely hold the card. 
     
     
       6. A card holding device comprising a hinge member having a plurality of grasping members rotatably mounted along the length of the hinge member, each of said grasping members being a U-shaped member having two parallel arms and a spanning arm extending therebetween to define an interior region, said U-shaped member being connected to said hinge member by said parallel arms and rotatable about the axis of the hinge, having spaced, opposed gripping arms formed on the spanning arm connecting said two parallel arms, each of said U-shaped members being progressively smaller in size and fitting within the interior region of the previous U-shaped member. 
     
     
       7. A card holding device as claimed in claim 6 in which said gripping arms are formed in two pairs along the length of the spanning arm in order to grasp a card at two points along the same length. 
     
     
       8. A card holding device as claimed in claim 6 in which said U-shaped members are held in the same plane by a scissor spring. 
     
     
       9. A card holding device as claimed in claim 6 in which said gripping arms are formed with ridges to engage a suitably-formed groove in a credit card in order to securely hold the card.